I've always wanted to know this - how do container ships keep the shipping containers from sliding off the deck during rough seas? I know the containers themselves are really heavy and big (they only look small compared to the rest of the ship!) but I would think one rogue wave and all those containers would be at the bottom of the ocean.

It is an old question, but since I inerned a year on containerships I should answer it.

Twistlocks have an oblong part that fits in the blong holes in the corners of containers, and that can be turned 90 degrees to fix them into place. There are twistlocks connected to the ships deck, and the lowest container is put on these, after which they are locked.

Since the containers also have connection fo twistlocks on their roof, you can put a second container on the the bottom container, with twistlocks between them, and so secure them together.

For extra security lashings are also being used. These are metal chains that have a method to really tighten them so far that there is no stretch in them at all. These chains are used for diagonal connections between containers or between containers and the deck. Lashing are used in combination with twistlocks, not as a replacement.

Containerships that need these method are often general cargo ships that are being used as container ships, but can be used for other cargo as well. Ships that are build only for the transport of containers are ususaly cellular containerships.

Cellulars containerships have open holds, with a frame that goes from the bottom of the ship to higher then the deck, in which containers fit exactly. On a cellular ship, you do not need twistlocks for the containers that are placed in the frame (you can not even use twistlocks, because the fram is in the way) but they are often being loaded up to 6 containers over the edge of the frame (depending on ship size) and the higher containers do need twistlock.

Thanks for the links and explanations, Marcel - that makes it a lot clearer for me. I guess I never thought about them locking in together like that, but it makes perfect sense!

I learned how to drive from my father, however, my father is an excellent driver. In addition to that, I had been piloting a small plane for several years before I could legally learn to drive, so that experience put me light years ahead of most people when it comes to operating a large, complex vehicle. I remember being 9 years old and "helping" my father land the plane for the first time and being absolutely positive that it was impossible to do so many things at one time. After learning to manage all that, driving a puny little car seemed easy.

Considering the fact that at least 90% of learning to drive a car is about learning to look around you and be aware of other traffic in the vicinity etc. I am not sure how much the experience with piloting a small plane help with this.

What I have always learned though is that people who somehow do have experience with driving cars before going for their drivers license here, often have a lot of problems, because they think they know what they are doing, because they know the technical part, but they are much worse at learning to look around when driving.

My son will be 15 in May and we are going to take him to get his learner's permit.

In his public high school, they sign up for a six week virtual driver's education class. Once they complete that, there is a manual they have to study and a written test to take before they can get their learner's permit. Once he has his permit, he will drive with adult supervision (must be over 21) until he is 16, when he can take the driving test and get his license. Florida calls it a graduated license. You go from a learner, to having a limited license (no driving from 11pm - 6 am without an adult over 21 in the car). The restrictions lessen until they are 18 and are unrestricted.

Does it matter how long the adult has had a licence for? I think it's 3 years here.

Stupid because I've had my Nook for almost a year and I should know the answer (but I prefer to buy instead of borrow.) I've looked at the B&N website and can't find out how to do this.

How do you borrow books from the library on your Nook?

Does it have to be a local library?

I'm thinking about getting a Nook for my mother for Xmas and she lives in very-small-town-USA. Does her town library need to have this function available (unlikely) or can she borrow books from any library?

Overdrive is the "big" e-book lending library. If your mom's library is smaller, it might belong to a co-op that does Overdrive or another e-book lender.

If you want to PM me her library, I can look it up using a couple different sources.

(Reference librarian here, so I deal with e-books on a regular basis.)

I could never get Overdrive to work on my PC, but it worked like a charm on my iPad. It is so awesome to have books freely and magically appear on your ipad to read!

I started reading the first quote on this reply and thought "Oh. Good. More info. I posted something like that a while ago . . . Oh. Wait! That's ME!

Just thought I'd give an update: My mother is sooo tickled pink with her nook. It seems that there was a bit of a problem loading the Overdrive on her PC, but working with her library they got the problem solved (I don't know the details.)

So you use an ipad instead of a nook tablet to borrow books from the library?

Not nooks, but overdrive info:

The new Microsoft Tablet (the Surface) has two different operating systems. One which is tablet based and one is Microsoft 8 based. With the tablet based, you use the Overdrive app. With the MS 8 based, you treat it like a desktop. We had a Female Dog of a time figuring that out when a patron came in with his new Surface. So just thought I'd share the info!

Interesting. In the UK, learner drivers are not allowed on motorways. You have to pass your test first.

In much of the US, it's a lot harder to get anywhere without being on a highway than it is in the UK. It would be very hard to get in enough driving practice if you weren't allowed on highways.

And honestly, highways are a lot easier in terms of sheer driving skills. Smaller roads with intersections and lights and traffic coming at you from everywhere are really a lot more challenging. Highways are just high speed.

There is more to highways then just the high speed. allthough that does depend on where you live off course.

Over here we have (one of the) highest traffic densities in the world, and only profesionals are allowed to teach people to drive here. You take driving lessons, until you are ready to do the exam. If you pass you get your license and can drive independently, and if you fail you take more lessons again.

Personaly, I find the idea of non-pofesionals teaching driving ridiculous, and it is the reason why I will always be more suspect of other traffic in the US then I am over here, becaus i know that there is a good chance that the other driver did not receive good driving lessons.

My ex, a Washingtonian with a Washingtonian drivers license refuses to drive a car under any circumstances here, and she will only ever start doing it after she has received some Dutch driving lessons to help here dealing with the traffic intensity here.

About the UK. How are you going to learn driving on motorways if you are not allowed to drive on them?

You are not allowed to drive on motorways as a learner but you can drive on dual carriageways which, unless otherwise stated by speed limit signage, have the same speed limit as a motorway and so can be very similar to motorway driving. I believe that a plan to allow learner drivers to learn on motorways, if with a qualified instructor in a dual control car, has been proposed by the government and is likely to come into force in the near future.

There's a number of possible suggestions, most of them involving ladies of negotiable affection who are attached to mobile army encampents. It seems to be a silly phrase that has no clear meaning attatched to it but it just sounds kinda funny as an insult, so it stuck around?

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It's best to love your family as you would a Siberian Tiger - from a distance, preferably separated by bars . -- Pearls Before Swine (16-May-2009)

"Stupid question that wandered into my mind earlier today. The saying "You mother wears Army Boots" is obviously an insult, but how did it come about, and what exactly is it supposed to convey?"

My impression was that it was accusing your target's mother of being manly. With the growing number of women in the armed forces, it's getting pretty dated, though.

Iris wrote:

"I'm explaining it badly, but maths not physics is my area sorry. I once heard a physicist break down the number of actual impacts in a car crash..."

This is true, but our discussion was about a particular collision and a particular injury, and that's where the description doesn't add up.

Mental Magpie wrote:

"Re: being independent from the car. I was using very general terms and wasn't clear. What I meant was that your body will eventually move from the crash. You won't just sit there while the car moves around you without ever moving you. For a split second while everything impacts everything else, sure, but in the end you'll move, too."

See above. There's no doubt that your body is going to get moved around by the collision, but I was questioning the concept of pressing the brake causing additional hip injuries, since perpetua argued that pressing the brake while stopped was going to do that. You're not going to suffer any more or any different injuries from a rear-end hit by pressing the brake than you would putting the car in neutral and putting your feet flat on the floor or holding them up, and if your foot is on the brake then post-collision your car is less likely to drift roll, so it's a good idea to press the brake firmly while you're sitting still.

"Stupid question that wandered into my mind earlier today. The saying "You mother wears Army Boots" is obviously an insult, but how did it come about, and what exactly is it supposed to convey?"

My impression was that it was accusing your target's mother of being manly. With the growing number of women in the armed forces, it's getting pretty dated, though.

Iris wrote:

"I'm explaining it badly, but maths not physics is my area sorry. I once heard a physicist break down the number of actual impacts in a car crash..."

This is true, but our discussion was about a particular collision and a particular injury, and that's where the description doesn't add up.

Mental Magpie wrote:

"Re: being independent from the car. I was using very general terms and wasn't clear. What I meant was that your body will eventually move from the crash. You won't just sit there while the car moves around you without ever moving you. For a split second while everything impacts everything else, sure, but in the end you'll move, too."

See above. There's no doubt that your body is going to get moved around by the collision, but I was questioning the concept of pressing the brake causing additional hip injuries, since perpetua argued that pressing the brake while stopped was going to do that. You're not going to suffer any more or any different injuries from a rear-end hit by pressing the brake than you would putting the car in neutral and putting your feet flat on the floor or holding them up, and if your foot is on the brake then post-collision your car is less likely to drift roll, so it's a good idea to press the brake firmly while you're sitting still.

I learned how to drive from my father, however, my father is an excellent driver. In addition to that, I had been piloting a small plane for several years before I could legally learn to drive, so that experience put me light years ahead of most people when it comes to operating a large, complex vehicle. I remember being 9 years old and "helping" my father land the plane for the first time and being absolutely positive that it was impossible to do so many things at one time. After learning to manage all that, driving a puny little car seemed easy.

Considering the fact that at least 90% of learning to drive a car is about learning to look around you and be aware of other traffic in the vicinity etc. I am not sure how much the experience with piloting a small plane help with this.

What I have always learned though is that people who somehow do have experience with driving cars before going for their drivers license here, often have a lot of problems, because they think they know what they are doing, because they know the technical part, but they are much worse at learning to look around when driving.

Piloting a plane is far more complex than driving a car. After learning to be aware of, and operate a plane safely, the skills required to drive a car didn't seem all that complicated. That's why I made the comparison. I was likely somewhat easier to teach than the kid with the normal experience. I'd make the same comparison of a farmer's kid, who's spent his life driving tractors and other farm vehicles. Also, you have the same awareness of surrounding issues in a plane, only you don't just have to be aware of what's in front of, beside and behind you. You also have to know what's above and below you. Also, they don't mark nice, neat little lanes in the sky. It can make for some interesting traffic scenarios when idiots start ignoring air traffic control.

« Last Edit: January 04, 2013, 06:55:46 PM by mmswm »

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Some people lift weights. I lift measures. It's a far more esoteric workout. - (Quoted from a personal friend)

We don't have any barbers/hair salons in town that cater to toddlers or I'd take Boo Bear there and make it their business to figure out. He just needs his side curls cut back a bit, but apparently the trimmer I have tickles.

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“A real desire to believe all the good you can of others and to make others as comfortable as you can will solve most of the problems.” CS Lewis